Tag: founders

Posted on

Rarebird Learning Sessions at Utah Tech Week

Utah Tech Week happened this past week, and it was great to participate this year through Rarebird in support of local ed techs. We hosted the only two ed tech-specific sessions afaik, but the audience turn-out suggested a real demand for ed tech knowledge-sharing and community within the state.

Here’s a recap of those sessions in case you missed it:

The 4 Product Non-Negotiables in Ed Tech

Our first session was The 4 Product Non-Negotiables in Ed Tech, presented by industry veterans Karl Lloyd (product management, tech standards), Q Wade Billings (dev ops, security), and I.

We shared info, stories, and guidance so that early-stage ed tech founders and product leaders won’t ever be caught off guard by the 4 main “deal-killers” that districts and colleges will commonly require of vendors.

Karl Lloyd sharing advice on how to leverage partnerships with larger ed techs.
Karl Lloyd sharing advice on how to leverage partnerships with larger ed techs.

We covered a lot of ground rapidly during this session, and certainly only skimmed the surface on some important aspects, so it was good to see most of the audience stick around well after the time allotted to dig in deeper. There definitely seemed to be enough interest (and lingering questions) to warrant a full 60-90 minute session each.

Thus, we’re now developing in-depth workshops for 3 of the 4 topics, aiming for launch this spring.

Karl and I digging into the non-negotiables with attendees after the session.
Karl and I digging into the non-negotiables with attendees after the session.

Evolving Beyond Founder-Led Sales (Panel)

The second session was a panel, Evolving Beyond Founder-Led Sales, featuring 4 local ed tech founders and CEOs:

The panel tackled the question, How can an ed tech startup excel at – and eventually evolve beyond – founder-led sales?

Sean Traigle (SVP of Sales at Logos) and I co-hosted this session, and I think we had as much fun as the audience did with this thoughtful and lively group.

Panelist Neylan McBaine (Duet) responding to an audience question.
Panelist Neylan McBaine (Duet) responding to an audience question.

The conversation was far-reaching and represented the unique experiences of each panelist, but here are some takeaways worth pondering:

  • Founder-led sales is crucial for startups, as it not only tests the validity of the product, it develops the skills of the founder and builds relationships that prove invaluable in the long-run.
  • At the same time, because many founders are product or technical people who don’t fancy sales, having a sales pro as a co-founder can be a great advantage 😉
  • Like product validation, founder-led sales must be iterative. The developing methods and lessons learned may become the DNA of the company’s future GTM.
  • Once the startup has proven product-market fit, developed a playbook for founder-led sales, and grown at a rate that outpaces what the founder can respond to, it’s probably time to plan a sales hire.
  • The profile of a successful first sales hire will be heavily dependent on the needs of the business – e.g. it may be a market dev person or a field rep or even a savvy educator who can learn sales.
  • Founders should take their time with their early hire(s) to ensure they have what it takes. Better to continue to do double-duty in sales yourself for a while than wrestle with the costs and repercussions of a bad early hire.
  • A new hire must not only be competent with sales and capable of navigating customers’ organizations, the new hire must carry on the founder’s proven methods. This includes emulating the founder’s evangelism and reflecting their driving passion.
  • Document your process as it develops, and build a bare-bones system. Doesn’t have to be Salesforce, but it should at least be spreadsheets. You’re not building a mature rev ops team at this stage, but you can’t just leave it all in your head, either. A transition to your first sales hire(s) will be so much easier when you have systems and docs in place.
  • It’s easy to sell a product that you believe in. Both product leaders and sales leaders should take note.
  • Founders should never fully step away from sales. Just as product leaders should always be talking to customers, sales is something everyone in the company should care about and practice, even if they’re not building purchase orders.
  • Authenticity reigns. It’s easy to sell a product that you’re passionate about, and customers can smell BS a mile away. This is especially true in education, where ed tech startups will live or die by relationships, trust, and (eventually) referrals.

Those are some of the things we learned. Let’s hear from you:

  1. If you attended either of our UTW sessions, what did you learn?
  2. If you had participated in the founder-led sales session what would you have asked the panelists?
  3. If you’re in ed tech, what are the top challenges your startup faces in 2024?

Share your thoughts on any of these questions in the comments below.

And if you want to formalize your thoughts on #3, please complete The 2024 Ed Tech Priorities Survey: bit.ly/etsurvey24 – it only takes 7 min!

Huge thanks to everyone who attended, and especially the panelists and presenters who so generously shared their time and expertise!

Posted on

4 Mind-Shifts for Startup Founders Who Fear Being Salesy

Business people shaking hands in agreement

“Business people shaking hands in agreement”​ – RawPixel on Flickr – CC BY

Sales are, of course, critical for any startup. Especially for early-stage startups, it’s up to the founder(s) to determine product-market fit and map a sales strategy through, what else? Selling.

But founders aren’t always comfortable selling assertively. They may have their own negative perception of sales people, and thus are reluctant to come off as “sales-y”. Founders may also be so personally invested in their product/solution that they may have developed a fixed mindset as a defense mechanism against criticism or flaws, which disinclines them to be an a position where they might face rejection.

Founders of ed tech startups may have additional reasons to have concerns about selling assertively. Oftentimes they are pitching to highly educated individuals who are trained to thinking critically and analytically. These are people who purposefully embraced the mission of a non-profit organization, and may approach any corporate offering with significant skepticism.

But it is possible to sell assertively and authentically, even for founders who aren’t naturally comfortable doing so. Here are 4 suggestions for startup founders who personally struggle with internal feelings arising from selling:

1. Don’t focus on the customer’s perception of you (i.e. as sales-y), focus on your passion for helping the customer solve a problem. Authenticity owns perception.

2. Don’t focus on your product or company at all (at first), focus on the customer. A legitimate understanding of the customer’s problems in their context should naturally lead to your solution. If it doesn’t, take note* and move on.

3. Don’t be self-conscious about imperfections in your solution: Many weaknesses in your product/solution can only be addressed through the learnings you will glean from customer adoption. (It’s OK for customers to understand this, too.)

4. Don’t be shy about driving a deal to close: The only way you can help your customer is if they choose to formally adopt your solution. The sooner they adopt, the sooner you can make a positive impact on (at least one corner of) the world.

As someone who is a chronic self-doubter and has always been reticent of coming off as sales-y, I’ve applied these 4 ideas until they have become habits. Over time, habits trump inclinations, and you’ll find yourself increasingly comfortable assertively selling.

Those are just my ideas. What about you?

Are you self-conscious about sales? If so will these suggestions help?

Or perhaps you were once self-conscious but aren’t any more. If so, what caused you to change?

Maybe you’ve never been self-conscious about sales. What mindset do you hold that makes selling straight-forward?

*Repeated rejection should be examined, as it may mean you’re doing a poor job engaging with customers and representing the value, or your product/solution is a poor fit for the target customers’ needs. In either case, a pivot may be in order — in your methodology, your segment strategy, or your product strategy.